Racket bow caul



Nov. 14, 1933. H. w. HALL 1,935,358

RACKET BOW CAUL.

Filed June 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l dY MKJ/LZZ l s am Nov. 14, 1933. H. w. HALL 1,935,358

RACKET BOW CAUL Filed June 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v i l A; Coa

L atl'o'z'znzy Patented Nov. 14, 1933 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,935,358 RAoKE'r' Bow cAUr. Horace W. Hall, Newton, Mass. Application June 17,1931. Serial No. 544,970 9 Claims. (01. 144-259) inside head caul 13 and a'handle caul later'de- This invention relates to a racket caul and more particularly to an assembly of cauls to form a racket bow.

By the term racket bow I include the head or curved portion and: the straight handle portion. 7 a 7 In the formation of a-racket block composed of a plurality of wood, laminations from which a number of rackets, usually about twelve, are cut out, the shape, sectioning and arrangement of the cauls by which the wood laminations are bent and. held to bow shape is extremely important. The size of the block and the fact'that the glue between the laminations sometimes runs out and gets between the laminations and the cauls makes the separation of the racket block from the inside caul a serious problem. I

' One object of my'invention is to provide an assembly of caulsby means of which a plurality of wood laminations in block size could readily be bent and held to a racket bowshape. Another more important object was to make said assembly of cauls readily separable from the racket block after it had assumed bow shape.- Still another object has been to make said cauls so simple that the bending and removal of said block may be expeditiously accomplishedby relatively unskilled labor.

The foregoing and other objects which will appear as the nature of the inventionis better understood, may be accomplished by a construction, combination and operative arrangement of parts such as is disclosed by the drawings. The nature of the invention such'as to render it susceptible to various changes and modifications and,

therefore,,I' am not to be limited tothe construction disclosed by the drawings; but am" entitled to all such changes therefrom as fall-within the scope of my claims. J a

In the drawings: i i Figure 1 is a plan view showing a block bent into racket shape, and so heldby my cauls under pressure. a

Figure 2 is a cross-section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 more fully illustrating. the shape of the cauls and the means of applying pressure.

Figure 3 is a perspective viewof the inside caul. Figure 4 is a perspective view of a racket block with closed throat sections united thereto, the arrows indicating the pressure points Lon said block during the bending operation. Figure 5 is a perspective view of a racket block with abbreviated or open throat sections united thereto, the lower insert showing'one of a pair of cauls for forming the. open throat portions. As illustrated a racket block 12 is composed of a plurality of wood laminations glued together from which a number of rackets are sawed, said laminations being bent around an scribed, to thereby form a racket bow. Said inside head caul 13 is cored out and made as light in weight as practical, the hole 14 extending through it, although preferably much smaller at eachend than in the middle (see Figure 2 of the drawings), larger and thicker end portions being desired in order to withstandthe pressure at these points. At the bottomof said inside caul 13 a recess 15 is cut therein for purposes of alinement, and a handle caul 17 of about thickness fits into said recess 15 and extends throughthe handleof the how so that it may be held, for instance in a slot in a-holdingblock. It I will be noted in' Figure 1 of the drawings, which is a view looking downwardly on the block 12, that said inside head caul 13 has a very slightly raised portion 18 on its outside surface which establishes a center line or mark inside the racket bow head that is a useful guide for later operations. Said recess 15 for the handle caul 17 is. in alinement with said raised portion 18.

' The outside caul is preferably composed of a number of parts there being'shown a top section 20, two side sections 21', two throat sections 22 and two handle sections 23. Said throatsections' 22 commence at the beginning of the throat curve in the bow, and pressure is applied at this important point to directly overcome the tendency of the laminations-to spread apart in this reversal of the curve. All the cauls are preferably made of metal, suchas cast iron.

Upon bending the wood laminations around said insidecaul 13, and said handle caul 1'7, gluing the two wooden side sections 24 of the throat to the bow block 12 as previously disclosed in my application filed December 27, 1926, Serial No. 157,059, now Patent No. 1,831,350 issued November 10,1931, and placing said outside caul sections in position, this assembly must'be tightly held together until the glue has set. To accomplish this a number said inside caul 13 and said block12, those rods having pins 26 on their ends to 'hold said rods from slipping through one end of said inner caul said straps 2'7 and said long bars 28, being held in place by cotter pins 30. Set screws 32 extending through a threaded interior of said long bars 28 of rods 25 extend through are adapted to be screwed against bosses-33' formed at various pressure points on'the outside caul sections, the tighteningof which set screws 32 forces said outside caul sections toward the racket block 12 and also draws the inside head caul 13 towards said block, thereby pressing and;

holding the wood laminations, which have glue on their surfaces, very tightly together. The two handle portions of the racket bow are similarly drawn towards each other and tightly held with said handle caul 17 between them.

' Loosely mounted in said long bars 28 are dowel pins 33a which press fit into said outside caul sections 20, 21 and 22, to prevent separation of said long bars 28 and said caul sections 20, 21' and 22' when the straps 27 are released. As shown in Figure 2 of the drawings said lower strap 27 serves as a hinge thereby permitting said long bars 28' and outside caul sections 20, 21 and 22 to drop to the position shown in broken lines in said Figure 2.

At the lower ends of said rods 2511 which extend through a table 35, nuts 36 are secured on the threaded ends of said rods 25a, thereby fastening said inside caul 13 to said table 35 by means of said rods 25a, as the pins 26 at the upper ends of said rods 25a keep them from slipping through said inside caul l3. Said table 35 is provided with a metal top or covering 37, and interposed be-,- tween said top37 and inside caul 13 is a spacer block 38 to prevent binding of the lower straps 27 against said table top-37 and bottom surface of said inside head caul 13. Said table 35 is firmly secured to the floor by a standard 39 shown broken away in said Figure 2. In forming a racketblock to bow shape so it will havean open throat a metal caul 10 is inserted beloweach wooden throat section 24, which throat sections are in this instance abbreviated as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, said metal caul thereby forming openings il'on each side of said handle caul 1'7, which openings are commonly referred to as an open throat.

Upon removal of the cauls from the racket block, a wooden strip 42 isinserted in the center and glued to the handle portion of the racket bow in place of the handle caul 17.; K V

The removal of the racket block 12 frornthe cauls is effected by first removing the outside cauls 20, 21, 22 and-23, then the handle caul 17, the center space left thereby in the handle portion provides an expansion space eliminating any internal strains which may have been set up at this point, preventing thereby any glue fractures in the process of removing the block 12 from the inside caul 13.. Said block 12 is next removed by forcing the hand in the center space at the base of the handle portions slightly spreading the same, which is sufficient to release the head portion of the bow from the inside caul l3. The block12-is then lifted with the other hand away from said caul. 'It will be noted that all this is accomplished by short, simple operations, and

without using the collapsible inside caui formerly necessary. 1

What I claim is: r

1. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow com-* prising a plurality of outside-caul sections, 'two of said sections terminating at the curve substantially opposite the top throat portion of said racket how, an inside head cauland a handle caul adapted to extend fromsaid inside caul into thehandle of said racket bow, and means adapted to hold said cauls to said racket how.

2. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow comprising a plurality of outside caul sections, an inside head caul of the shape of the head of said racket bow having a raised portion on the top outside surface at the center of said inside caul and having a recess in the bottom of said inside caul in alinement with said raised portion, and a handle caul adapted to fit into said recess and extend therefrom into the handle of said racket bow, and means adapted to hold said cauls to said racket bow.

3. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow comprising outside cauls, a single unit inside caul having the shape of the head of said racket bow, a separate caul adapted to extend from a point in contact with said inside caul into the handle of said racket bow, and means adapted to hold said cauls to said racket bow.

4. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow block comprising an outside caul, an inside head caul having a raised portion on the outside surface at the center thereof and having a recess in. the bottom in alinement with said raised portion, a handle caul adapted to fit'into said recess and 95 extend therefrom into the handle portion of said racket bow block, and means to hold said cauls to said racket bow block. 5. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow block comprising seven outer caul sections, one of said sections being at the top, two at'the sides, two at the throat and two at the handle of said block, an inside caul, a separate, handle caul extending from said-inside caul into the handle of said bow block, and means adapted to said racket bow block.

6. An assembly of cauls for'a racket bow comprising a plurality of outside sections, an inside head caul, a separate handlecaul extending into the handle of said racket bow, andmeans adapted .110 to hold said cauls to said racket bow.

7. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow block comprising a plurality of outside sections, an inside head caul, a separate handle caul extending from said inside caul through the handle of said racket bow, said inside caul having provision to receive a portion of said handle caul, and means adapted to, hold said cauls-'tosai'd racket bow block. a I

r 8. An assembly of cauls for a racket bow com I prising an outer caul adapted to extend across the top of the bow head, two outer cauls adapted to extend from said first-mentioned caul to the throat portion of said racket bow, two outer cauls adapted to extend from said second-men tioned caulsto a portion. of the handleofsaid racket bow, two outer .caulsadapted to extend from said third-mentioned cauls down the handle of said racket bow, an inside-head caul having a recess therein, and a separate handle caul 13G adapted to fit into said recess and extend therefrom into the handle'of said racket .bow, and means to hold said cauls to said racket bow;

9. In combination, an assembly of cauls and a racket bow block held in bow'shape by said 135 cauls, comprising a plurality. of outside caul sections, an inside head caul around'wh ich'the head of said racket block is bent, a separate handle caul extending from said inside caul into the handle portion of said block, two throat side 1 in pieces glued to said how block below said inside caul and on each side of said handle caul, two open throat cauls below said side pieces, and means to firmly hold said'block to said cauls.

, HORACE W. HALL; 145

hold said cauls to L55 

